Rashad Evans: “I know I will beat Jon Jones.”

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans doesn’t care what the odds-makers say nor is his concerned with the opinions of fans, folks in the media, or even his fellow fighters. When it comes to his upcoming bout at UFC 145 with divisional title-holder Jon Jones the 32-year old knows with absolute certainly his hand will be raised in victory at the end of the night.

“I know I will beat Jon Jones,” said Evans in a recent interview with the UFC promoting the event. “He can talk about improvements he’s made, but there are still some things in his game he can never change. He’s a long, rangy fighter and I’m going to get inside, unleash my stuff, take him down and ground and pound him. I’m at a level in my career where I can take down and ground and pound anyone.”

Evans also pointed out his experience as someone who has been fighting at a high level for longer than Jones would pay dividends inside the Octagon as would his time as former training partner of the champ.

“I’ve got the advantage mentally, too,” continued Evans on the topic of why he’ll be getting his belt back. “He’s not ‘Jon Jones unbeatable champion’ to me. I know the real Jon, the nervous kid who would ask me to tell him how to dress, how to talk and how to fight. I know how he reacts when things don’t go his way, how he can’t handle it mentally.”

Jones-Evans fight on April 21 in Atlanta on PPV with other featured fights including Brendan Schaub-Ben Rothwell and Che Mills-Rory MacDonald.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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MMATraining Take: As “cocky” as Evans says Jones is there’s no question “Sugar” ‘Shad is equally full of himself. Not only has Jones evolved since they lasted trained together both personally and professionally, he obviously has similar experience training with Evans and knowing some of the intricacies of his game. Regardless, it’s going to be one helluva fight (and staredown) in a month when they meet!

[...] caliber of challenger he’ll face next month at UFC 145 when he faces rival and former champion Rashad Evans. Evans has expressed supreme confidence in his ability to beat the 24-year old on numerous [...]